Flange rolling mill



April 29, 1952 c. E. STENSON ET AL, 4,

FLANGE ROLLING MILL Filed Jan. 17, 1948 a Sheets-Sheet 1 I 73 66 62 I3 6 I6 20 26 72 ea 17 I8 I? 23 i 35 l m (klqgflc O Q I 1,. q;

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CHARLES E. STENSON ALDEN W. KELLY April 29, 1952 c. E. STENSON E'VIAL 2,594,819

I FLANGE ROLLING MILL Filed Jan. 17, 1948 '3 Sheets-Sheet 5 CHARLES E. STENSON ALDEN w. KELLY Patented Apr. 29, 1952 t c FLANGE ROLLING MIILL Charles E. Stenson, Hubbard, and Alden W. Kelly,

Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The Youngstown Steel Tank Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 17, 1948, Serial No. 2,834

Claims. (01. 153-29) This invention relates to apparatus for flanging the marginal edges of sheet or plate metal disks such as are employed in steel tank constructions. Considerable diificulty is encountered, when using present machines and methods to flange tank end disks of heavy gauge metal, in accurately forming the flanges to uniform axial length, to uniform and proper inner and outer radii of curvature, and without the appearance of sharp corners or checks which may be the beginning of lines of fracture after the plate is welded. Steel structures, particularly tanks fabricated of steel plate, must be manufactured in strict accordance with rigid engineering specifications and among the most important of these is the observance of certain minimum radii in the curvature of the stock.

It is accordingly the primary object of this invention to provide improved apparatus for flanging metal disks and the like which is operative to effect the requisite deforming of the metal plate in a progressive yet positive manner whereby the plate will be curved about predetermined radii without checking or buckling and whereby the final dimensions of the flanges formed will lie within predetermined close tolerances. This general object is accomplished in accordance with the principles of the invention, primarily by accurately centering and guiding the disk to be flanged with respect to the flanging roll pass of the assembly and by employing for the flanging roll pass a very rigidly journaled anvil roll of precise configuration and a co-acting working roll which is mounted for both progressive axial movement about its axis of driven rotation and transverse movement of its axis of rotation whereby the metal of the peripheral portion of a disk overlying the anvil roll may be ironed down over the anvil roll by the working roll.

Another object of the invention is the provision in a flange rolling assembly having an anvil roll rotatable about a fixed axis and a co-acting working roll rotatable about a movable axis of an improved arrangement for driving both said rolls in unison.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved assembly for journalling a metal bending roll whereby the axis of rotation thereof may be shifted laterally and the position thereof may be moved axially along said axis of rotation even while said roll is being powerdriven.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed specification and the accompanying drawing wherein there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section of an assembled apparatus constructed in accordance with our invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion of the assembled apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of another portion of the assembled apparatus of Figure 1;

Figures 4 and 5 are front and side elevations, respectively, of a hold-down roller used in the assemblyof Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an end elevation of the rolling mill portion of the assembled apparatus of Figure 1:

Figure '7 isa vertical section through the mill of Figure 6; and

Figures 8, 9 and 10 are fragmentary views showing the anvil roll and the forming roll of the assembly of Figure 1 in three different possible relative positions.

The assembled apparatus of our invention comprises a rolling mill stand having an anvil roll to and a'working roll I l and an adjustable holder for the metal discs to be flanged having a center post i2. Normally, such discs will be dished and one such pre-formed disc is shown at I! in the drawing.

The rolling mill comprises a structure having a suitable base [4 from which extend upwardly four spaced columns l5 mounting a platform IE on their upper ends. Slideably mounted on the columns [5 is a pair of brackets I! and rigidly mounted in the bracket ll in spanning relation therewith is a tube l8 having a longitudinal slot l9 in its side wall. Slideable longitudinally in the tube 18 is a second tube 20 which rotatably carries a shaft 2! to one end of'which is securely but detachably mounted the working roll ll. Suitable radial and thrust bearings, not shown in detail, are employed to journal the shaft 2| in the sleeve 20 and to move the sleeve 20 axially of the housing I8 there is provided a bracket 22 which is rigidly keyed and secured to the sleeve 26 and which extends outwardly of the housing l8 through the slot l9 therein.

The end of the shaft 24. opposite the roll H is splined in a worm whee1'23 which is journaled in a housing 25 rigidly secured to an end'of the housing I3 and a worm 25 is splined on a verticallydisposed shaft 26 and is adapted to mesh with the wheel 23 whereby the shaft 2| may be driven from the shaft 25. As shown more clearly in Figure 7, the shaft 26 is connected at its wheel 55.

3 receive a pulley 33 which is coupled to a driving motor 34 through suitable driving belts shown.

Supported on the base [4 opposite the gear housing 3| is a rugged housing 35 rigidly journalling a heavy. vertically disposed shaft 35. The anvil roll I is detachably secured to the upper projecting end of the shaft 36. Keyed on the shaft 36 is a worm wheel 31 which meshes with a worm 38 keyed on an extension 39 ofthe shaft 32. It should now be obvious that upon energization of the driving motor 34 both the rolls I0 and H will be positively driven and, further, that the sleeve 20 may be moved longitudinally in either direction to move the working roll I! axially while this roll is being driven by means of the splined interconnection between the shaft 2! and the worm wheel 23. Also, the housing 18-; carrying thesleeve 29 may be raised and lowered during operation of the mill by reason of the splined interconnection between the shaft 26 and the worm wheel 25. The means to raise and lowerthe housing l8 will now be described. Asshown in Figure l, the ends of the housing 18 are rigidly carried in thebrackets H which in turn are slideably mounted on the columns 15 as shown more clearly in Figure 6. Extendingupwardly from each of the brackets 11 and secured thereto is a screw 0 onto which is threaded a worm wheel 4|. The worm wheels 41 are positioned above the platform 55 and are engaged by a pair of worms mounted on a cornmon shaft 4'2.v To supply power to the shaft l2 adrive shaft 43 is provided which is connected with the upper end of the drive shaft 25 by means of bevel gears 44 and 21. A sprocket 65 is keyed onto the shaft 43 and is connected by means-Ora chain with the sprocket wheel 45 Journaled on the shaft 42. Also journaled on the shaft 42 in spaced relation with the sprocket 48 is a worm wheel 4! which is driven by the shaft 53 through the bevel gears 48 and the worm 49. The driving arrangement is such that the wheel Al and sprocket 45 rotate in opposite directions and each of theseparts have an inner clutch face adapted to be selectively engaged by a clutch member 58 which is splined onto the shaft '42 and which is arranged to be shifted to one direction or the other, or to neutral position, by the leveri. It will be obvious that the wheel i'i is driven at a much lower rate of speed than is the sprocket 46 and the direction of the gearing is such that when the clutch part 50 is shifted to engage the; clutch face on the wheel il the wormwheels 6| will be rotated in the direction required to lower the housing I 8. Upon the lever 5| being shifted to cause interengagement of the clutch part 50 and sprocket 45 the housing 18 will be raised.

To advance and retract the sleeve 20 in longitudinal directions a screw 52 is connected with thelower end of the bracket 22 and engaging the screw 52 is a worm wheel 53 coupled with a worm 54 arranged to be. driven by a hand As indicated in Figure 2, the'wheel 55 and lever 5| are positioned adjacent each other so that the operator through the use of both his hands may readily effect any desired combinations of movement of the working roll H during operation of the mill. For example, at the start of a flanging operation the roll H may be positioned above the roll I6 and the work may first be engaged at a point opposite the upper outer corner of the roll it. Now by suitablemanipulation of the controls 5i and 55 the outer working face ofthe roll H may be'caused 4 to move progressively in an arcuate manner outwardly and downwardly along the contour of the roll Ill. In this manner the stock is progressively formed or bent and the rate of bending may, of course, be accurately controlled in consideration of the characteristics and thickness of the metal plate stock to avoid the setting up of fracturing stresses in the stock. Also, the planishing action effected by the rolls in this mode of operation inhibits the formation of checks in the surfaces of the plate stock as will be understood.

Extending outwardly of the base 14 in general continuation of the plane of the axes of the shafts 2| and 3B is a base 55 slideably mounting a boom 51 formovement toward and away from the. anvil roll-l0. To advance and'retard the boom 51 we provide a longitudinally extending screw 58 which, through suitable bevel ears 59 is are ranged to be rotated'by a handwheel 60. Adjustably mounted on the boom 51 is a bracket 6| carrying the post 12 which has a shouldered up-,- per. end 62,forengaging an aperture formed in theexact center of the disc i3'to be flanged. It should be understood that the rolls in and I l have such relative directions of rotation that their adjacent peripheral portions move in the same circumferentialdirection relative to the axis of post l2 whereby the disc I5 will be slowly rotated about the axis of. the post 62 during operation of the mill. The post, i2 is preferably of a tele-'- scopic nature whereby its. height may be readily adjusted and this, together with the adjustable nature of the mounting for the boom 51 enables discs of widely varyingdiameters and curvature to beilanged by the machine of our invention. Further, the generaldished curvature of the disc remains undistorted during the flanging operation so that the completed product is necessarily accurate tosize andishape when removed from the machine.

To insure that the general curvature of the disc i3'will'not be distorted during the fianging operation we provide aplurality of universally mounted hold-down rolls for spacing circumferentially about the disc 13 inwardly of its periphery: Each of such hold-down rolls B3 is journaled in a" cradle 64 (see Figures 4 and 5) which is swivelled in a yoke 65 carried at the bottom end of a pin 65. Two of such assemblies are'carried by the outer ends of arms 61 which are mounted on vertically disposed shafts 68 journa'led in housing 59 mounted on the base I 4. A-worm wheel is keyed to each of the shafts 68 and is driven by a worm mounted on a common shaft HI to which is connected an operating hand wheel-1|. Upon rotation of the wheel l'l in one direction the arms 6'1 swing inwardly toward each other while upon rotation of the wheel H in the opposite direction the arms 61 swingoutwardly to more widely space the hold-down points'as is desirable in the case of large-diameter discs, for example. The pins 65 are preferably threaded and-are secured to the arms Bl by a pairof nuts engagingthe top and bottom side of each of the arms 67 whereby the vertical position of the hold-down rolls may be adjusted.

iwo other of the hold-down roll assemblies comprised of the roll 63 and the mounting pin 5i; are carried by a bracket 12 which is adjustably mounted on the outer end of the boom 51 and which has a pair of diverging arms 73 for carrying the hold-down roll assembly. The positionof the bracket lion the boom 51 may: be finally adjusted by means of a screw 73' adapted to be rotated by a hand wheel M through suitable gearing contained in a housing '55. It should be understood that upon the positioning of the disc 13 on the post l2 the arms 6! may be swun inwardly toward each other and the bracket 13 advanced toward the post l2 only sufficiently to snugly engage the upper convex surface of the disc l3 to be flanged. With proper adjustment of the height and position of the post l2 the disc l3 will at this time lie in a horizontal plane with the peripheral edge portion in light contact with the anvil roll It! and projecting radially outward of such point of contact a sufficient distance to give the proper axial length of flange desired. Now upon application of the working roll H (assuming the drive motor 34 to be energized) to the work in the manner described above buckling and distortion and upward tilting movement of the disc I3 will be effectively prevented by the engagement of the hold-down rolls 63 at the four widely spaced points indicated. Of course, the pins 66 are so oriented in the holders 6! and 13 that the rolls 63 have proper rolling contact with the upper surface of the disc 13.

It should now be apparent that we have provided improved apparatus for fianging sheet and plate metal discs which accomplishes the objects initially set out. Through the use of apparatus which enables the peripheral edge portion of the metal to be deformed and ironed or planished in a progressive manner and accurately to predetermined contour formed on an anvil roll together with equipment to accurately position and restrain the rotating disc during the flanging operation we are enabled to produce accurately formed and high quality tank ends and the like from sheet or plate metal discs on a production basis. Further, these advantages are retained even though, the discs handled are quite large in diameter and are very heavy plate.

The above specifically described embodiment of the invention should be considered as illustrative only as obviously many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims in determining the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for fianging metal disks comprising in combination a base, upwardly disposed members forming guide-ways extending from said base, a housing slideably mounted on said guideways, a horizontally disposed sleeve slideably mounted in said housing for movement along its longitudinal axis, means to "move said sleeve longitudinally, a shaft journaled in said sleeve and having a projecting end, a roll secured to the projecting end of said shaft, a worm wheel rotatably carried by said housing and splined onto the opposite end of said shaft, a vertically disposed driving shaft, a worm engaging said worm wheel and splined onto said driving shaft, means to raise and lower said housing, and an anvil roll journaled for rotation about a fixed axis adjacent said first-mentioned roll but angularly related to the axis of rotation of said firstmentioned roll.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further characterized in that said means to raise and lower said housing comprises a pair of holddown screws connected therewith and extending upwardly therefrom, gear means threaded onto the upper end portions of said screws, and means interconnecting the upper end of said vertically disposed shaft and said gear means to rotate said gear means in either selected direction whereby said housing may be raised or lowered.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 further characterized in that said anvil roll'is mounted on the upper end of a vertically disposed stub shaft, a housing rotatably supporting said stub shaft, a driving gear in said last mentioned housing and keyed to said stub shaft, a motor, and gear means interconnecting said motor with said drive gear and said first mentioned vertically disposed shaft whereby said rolls may be rotated in unison.

4. Apparatus for fianging metal disks comprising means for rotatably supporting a disk for rotation about its principal axis, an anvil roll for underlying a peripheral edge portion of the disk and having a working surface contoured complementary to the inner curvature desired at the fiange on the disk, said anvil roll being journaled for rotation about an axis lying in a plane including said principal axis, a supporting frame adjacent said anvil roll, a horizontally disposed sleeve mounted in said supporting frame for adjustable movement either vertically or longitudinally, power means on said supporting frame for moving said sleeve vertically and having a manually engageable control member, means on said supporting frame for moving said sleeve longitudinally and having an operating member positioned adjacent said control member, the longitudinal axis of said sleeve lying substantially in said plane, a shaft journaled in said sleeve and having a free projecting end positioned adjacent said anvil roll, a working roll rigidly secured to said projecting end of said shaft and having a bulbous outer Working surface, and means to drive said rolls, the arrange-'- ment being such that during a disk fianging operation said members may be manipulated to cause said working roll to move through an armate path over the contour of said anvil roll to thereby progressively bend said peripheral portion of said disk into close engagement with the contour of said anvil roll.

5. In a machine for fianging metal disks, apparatus for rotatably supporting said disks in generally horizontal position comprising a horizontally extending boom, a vertically disposed post mounted on one end of said boom and having a shouldered upper end to engage ap- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 205,241 Campbell et al June 25, 1878 314,615 Shepard Mar. 31, 1885 318,889 Fox May 26, 1885 766,826 I-Ijorth Aug. 9, 1904 1,259,306 Smith Mar. 12, 1918 1,288,147 Nystrom Dec. 17, 1918 1,772,590 Schumacher Aug. 12, 1930 

